Whether it is exposing legislation and regulations that benefit unions, lawyers or management at the expense of workers, detailing the folly of occupational licensing laws; supporting the expansion of state right-to-work laws; or highlighting the overreach of lawmakers, bureaucrats, and courts; CEI advances reforms in this crucial, often overlooked policy area. Our op-eds, policy papers, media appearances, coalition work, and innovative research serve as crucial counterweights to the aggressive efforts by unions and their allies to frame the policy debate.
Labor and Employment Issue Areas
Featured Posts
The Center Square
As the U.S. adds jobs, Illinois continues to lag in unemployment numbers
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in The Center Square on worker shortages: Researcher Sean Higgins with the Competitive Enterprise Institute said despite the robust job…
New York Post
Layoffs at Tesla reveal the need for fresh ‘green’ thinking
Tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for electric vehicles. Billions more coming to subsidize charging stations. Non-stop jibberjabber about “sustainable” this and “Green New Deal” that.
Blog
Biden says his steel tariffs totally different from Trump’s, speculates uncle was eaten by cannibals
President Joe Biden vowed Wednesday that he would get tough on China’s steel dumping by tripling tariffs on imports. He argued this was totally different…
Search Posts
Blog
Collective Bargaining Increases Inequality
I recently pointed out that minimum wage regulations increase inequality. That’s not what the “Fight-for-15” activists intend, but it is the result they would achieve.
Blog
Appropriations Committee Moves to Defund Harmful Labor Regulations
Yesterday, the full House Appropriations Committee held a markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which defunds numerous harmful regulations implemented by…
Blog
CEI Supports Defunding Obama’s Joint Employer Standard in House Appropriations Bill
This week, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee will markup the Fiscal Year 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. CEI commends the…
Blog
CEI Commends Rep. King’s Amendment to Halt Enforcement of Davis-Bacon
This week, the House is scheduled to vote on the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill (H.R. 5538). CEI commends Rep. Steve King’s…
Blog
NLRB Overturns Precedent, Makes Organizing Two Workplaces At Once Easier
In a case involving Browning-Ferris Industries, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision overturned longstanding precedent regarding joint employer status—when two employers in a contractual…
Washington Examiner
Fed agency OKs unions including temp workers
The Washington Examiner discusses with Trey Kovacs the National Labor Relations Board's decision to force businesses to allow unions to include temporary workers.
Blog
Bringing Transparency to Union Subsidies
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) have co-sponsored legislation this session to ensure reporting of federal employees using “official time,” the practice…
Blog
Minimum Wage Increases Inequality, Decreases Labor Force Participation
The minimum wage actually increases inequality. It helps some workers, but only at others’ expense.
Coalition to Save Local Businesses
Feds Threaten the Independence of Small Business Owners
We value our independence in the country, and not just from imperial foreign governments like the British 240 years ago. Americans love independence from the…
The Detroit News
Obama’s new overtime rule could sting workers
The Detroit News discusses the impacts of the overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. Obama may be touting the raises he hopes his rule…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Jobs, Stats, and Monetary Machinations
This week we go behind the scenes: gathering Federal employment numbers, uncovering the relationship between inflation and jobs, and debating the apparent impotence of central…
Blog
Feds Threaten the Independence of Small Business Owners
We value our independence in the country, and not just from imperial foreign governments like the British 240 years ago.
Blog
The Fight for Union Dues Independence
This holiday weekend, we celebrate the birth of our great country. Two hundred and forty years ago, the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence…
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council
NLRB Joint Employer Ruling Undermines Small Businesses and IP
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council quotes Trey Kovacs on labor regulators efforts to expand the joint employer standard. This effort to expand the…
Blog
Federal Labor Agencies’ Actions Threatens Worker Opportunity
During the course of the Obama administration, federal labor agencies have turned labor and employment policy on its head via a slew of regulations, sub-regulatory…
Blog
Federal Unions’ “Official” Waste of Tax Dollars
While unions representing government employees are still private entities, it is shocking just how much tax dollars they receive for performing union business that does…
Study
‘Release Time’ Forces Taxpayers to Pay for Union Work
Full Document Availible in PDF Taxpayers expect their government to spend their tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. Yet…
Blog
D.C. Scheduling Law Would Have Done More Harm than Good
On Tuesday, D.C.’s City Council will consider scheduling legislation that would force companies to provide schedules at least 14 days in advance.
Blog
Judge Halts Labor Department Persuader Rule for Now
A federal judge in Texas yesterday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing its “persuader rule,”…
Daily Caller
Teacher Loses Pension For Doing Union Work Instead Of Her Job
The Daily Caller discusses the practice of official time for public employees with Trey Kovacs. The practice exists on the federal level where it…
Blog
The True Losers of the Overtime Rule: Small Businesses
On June 23, 2016, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing over the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulation. The tone of the…
Maryland Reporter
Opinion: County contracts with union paid leave cost taxpayers
Prince George’s County Council is considering approval of a union contract covering firefighters and paramedics. But legal developments around the country should give council members…
Blog
New Joint Employer Standard Hurting Business of All Sizes
Recently, the business community aired their grievances about the National Labor Relations Board’s new joint employer standard in the form of briefs from Microsoft and…
Blog
Congress Fights Back Against DOL Attack on Flexible Work and Small Business
Congress may have missed an opportunity to defund the Department of Labor’s overtime rule via the appropriations process, but they have not given up the…
American Legislative Exchange Council
Union Time on the Taxpayer Dime
Connecticut state budgets are in dire straits. Belts need to be tightened. Revenue projections estimate the budget deficit could spill over $900 million in…
Blog
Building on the Optimism of “Uber-Positive” Attitudes
There’s a new resource for understanding the state of play between politics and developments in the sharing economy, the pleasantly slim volume by the Manhattan…
Investor's Business Daily
Congress Missed Chance To Roll Back Job-Killing Regulations
A dismal May jobs report — where only 38,000 jobs were added to economy when 162,000 were expected — was the lowest mark since…
Bus & Motorcoach News
Millions of workers will soon qualify for overtime pay
Bus & Motorcoach News discusses the impact of the overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. Some businesses plan to cut base employee pay to offset…
Blog
Speaker Ryan’s Deregulatory Report: Clamp Down on Federal Labor Agencies’ Overreach
Today, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) released his plan for how to modernize our federal regulatory system in order to jumpstart the economy. This is…
Coalition to Save Local Businesses
CEI: Heavily Scrutinized NLRB Joint Employer Standard Heads to Court
Most people can pretty easily tell you who their boss is, but the Obama administration has made that a difficult question. In a decision last…
Daily Caller
Obama’s Disputed Union Election Rule Survives Appeal
The Daily Caller discusses a courts ruling on union elections with labor expert Trey Kovacs. Employers are also required to submit the personal…
Blog
House Committee Examines Overtime Rule’s Negative Impact on Non-Profits and Universities
The House Education & Workforce Committee held a hearing today that examined the Department of Labor’s recent overtime regulation’s impact on non-profits and universities.
Blog
Heavily Scrutinized NLRB Joint Employer Standard Heads to Court
Most people can pretty easily tell you who their boss is, but the Obama administration has made that a difficult question. In a decision last…
Real Clear Policy
Congress, Reject Labor Department’s Overtime Rule
The Obama administration publicly touts the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule as a boon for workers. But the rule, which dramatically raises the salary…
Real Clear Policy
Congress, Reject Labor Department’s Overtime Rule
The Obama administration publicly touts the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule as a boon for workers. But the rule, which dramatically raises the salary…
Daily Caller
Republicans Move To Block Obama’s Overtime Rule
The Daily Caller discusses the impact of Department of Labor's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. Salaried workers could lose their ability to…
One News Now
Higher minimum wage not a panacea for all
One News Now discusses the effects of minimum wage and collective bargaining policies on the poor with Ryan Young. Ryan Young of the…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Fighting Injustice & Igniting Prosperity
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, professors Stephanos Bibas and Donald Boudreaux discuss injustice in the plea bargain system and the dangers of the dismal…
Lexology
What do Employment Law and Skydiving have in common? Part I: The Big Picture
Lexology cites Trey Kovacs on the Department of Labor's policy objectives behind the overtime pay rule. There were two policy objectives set forth…
Blog
Attorney General Lynch Refuses to Defend Law to Speedily Terminate Wrongdoers
Attorney General refuses to defend law passed by Congress to speedily terminate wrongdoers One of an Attorney General’s fundamental duties is to defend laws passed…
Blog
Administration’s War on Work Reflected in Jobs Numbers
The administration and its allies are currently engaged in a regulatory onslaught on employers that can only be described as a war on work. Today’s…
National Review
Meet Tom Perez
National Review discusses the work of Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, with Iain Murray. Iain Murray, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s vice president of strategy,…
Blog
NLRB Downplays Pro-Union Threats
Union bias permeates the actions of the current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is hardly surprising since a former union lawyer, Richard Griffin,…
Blog
Unions and Environmentalists Oppose Plan to Address California’s Rising Housing Costs
Everyone’s for affordable housing—except, it seems, some unions and environmentalists. On May 18, a coalition of unions and environmental advocacy groups—including the State Building &…
National Review
“Income Inequality” – Missing the Point
President Obama, Paul Krugman tells us, has declared war on income inequality. In fact, income inequality is at the root of just about everything…
Citation
VIDEO: Trey Kovacs cited on The McLaughlin Group
[VIDEO::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEMWnVEiVGY::aVideoStyle]…
Blog
White House Supports Bill that Exempts Puerto Rico from New Overtime Regulation
Progressives praised the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule as a way to fatten workers’ pockets and a means to strengthen the middle class. If…
Washington Examiner
States constitutions can rein in union subsidy
On May 10, the Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could provide a roadmap to eliminate a persistent form of government…
Daily Caller
Former DOL Administrator Bashes Obama’s Overtime Rule
The Daily Caller discusses the Department of Labor's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. Salaried workers could lose their ability to work flexible work…
Fox News
Surprise, surprise, Obama’s new overtime rule was never intended to raise your wages
The Obama administration claims that millions of salaried workers will get a raise under the new Department of Labor overtime rule. But a wage increase…
Watchdog.org
Experts say Obama’s overtime rule will hit taxpayers, economy hard
Wisconsin Watchdog.org discusses the Obama administration's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. “This extra income will not only mean a better life for…
Blog
How the Overtime Rule Hopes to Design Higher Salaries, But Can’t
The Labor Department has just issued a new regulation for overtime pay for salaried employees. Under the new rule, all salaried workers earning less than…
USA Today
Millions more Americans to be eligible for overtime pay
USA Today discusses the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. “The Obama rule puts a huge cost and regulatory burden on…
U.S. News & World Report
Obama’s Overtime Rule Raises Pay for Millions
U.S. News & World Report discusses the coalition letter headed by CEI urging Congress to take action against the overtime pay rule. The Competitive…
News Release
CEI Labor Expert Warns of Negative Consequences for Obama Overtime Pay Mandate
The Labor Department is set to issue its final rule expanding a federal mandate on employers for overtime pay. The overtime rule makes more salaried…
Blog
Free Market Organizations Call on Congress to Block the DOL Overtime Rule
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute along with 16 other organizations sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity…
The Guardian
Millions could get a raise under Obama administration’s new overtime rules
The Guardian reports on CEI's coalition letter urging Congress to take action against the Department of Labor's harmful overtime rule. A coalition of…
Washington Examiner
White House aims to force firms to pay more overtime
Washington Examiner discusses the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. Critics said that rather than paying out more overtime, many businesses…
Daily Caller
Here’s Why Obama’s Upcoming Overtime Rule Faces Fierce Opposition
The Daily Caller discusses the coalition letter CEI headed up to urge Congress to take action against the Obama administration's overtime rule. Managers…
News Release
CEI Leads Coalition Urging Congress to Reject Obama Overtime Rule
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today sent a coalition letter to Congress urging support for S. 2707 and H.R. 4773, the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act –…
Blog
Air Traffic Control Reform Opponents Still Miss the Big Picture, Repeat Errors
Air traffic control is in dire need of reform and modernization, and there is a great plan in the House FAA bill to do just…
Blog
Members-Only Unions Benefits Unions and Individual Workers
There has been a surge in right-to-work laws over the past couple of years. Since 2012, four states (Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and West Virginia) revoked…
Daily Caller
Unprecedented Overtime Expansion Likely To Send Business Leaders Into Payroll Damage Control
The Daily Caller discusses the impact of the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. "These small businesses, who may not be…
Blog
Small Businesses and Nonprofits Ill-Equipped to Handle DOL’s Overtime Rule
The Department of Labor's overtime rule may be published as early as next week. The rule's "one-size-fits-all" nature is set to harm small businesses the…
Blog
Conservatives for Big Government: Air Traffic Control Reform Opponents Have Lost Their Minds or Principles
UPDATE: Diana Furchtgott-Roth has responded. I offer my reply. Right now in Congress, there is a proposal to end a government monopoly, replace…
Blog
Seattle Regulators Go After Rideshare Driver Privacy
Today, I have a column up at FEE.org on the need for classical liberals to make financial privacy as important an aspect of their…
Blog
Companies May Scrutinize Employee Activity More under DOL’s Proposed Overtime Rule
The battle over the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule is heating up. A number of business groups, labor unions, and progressive organizations have met…
Blog
Congress Needs to Halt DOL Regulatory Onslaught
Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) called out recent Department of Labor policies as having a “chilling effect” on the economy. Ryan’s statements were…
One News Now
Labor representative reporting rule burdens businesses
One News Now discusses the Department of Labor's "persuader rule" with Ivan Osorio. Critics refer to this latest effort as “the persuader rule” and…
Blog
Why Is Employee Involvement an Unfair Labor Practice?
U.S. labor law is largely based on the false narrative of an inequality of bargaining power between employees and employers. The theory goes that an…
The Hill
Department of labor overtime rule is a roadblock to a bright career path
Obama labor regulators are touting a plan to boost wages, but unfortunately for people living in the real world, it’s a bill of false goods.
Blog
A Diverse Collection of Stakeholders Oppose the DOL’s Overtime Rule, Really
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece entitled, “Who Opposes Overtime Pay Increase, Really?” The author, Harlan Green, publisher at PopularEconomics.com, says, “That’s a…
Blog
Give Job Seekers a Break: Get Government Out of the Licensing Business
Public policy easing union organizing is not an economic cure-all, and really wouldn’t help at all—no matter how many times union-backed politicians say so (see…
Blog
Labor Department’s “Persuader Rule” Gives Unfair Advantage to Unions
The Department of Labor’s “persuader rule,” which is set to go into effect on Monday, April 25, will give unions a new tool to…
Blog
Easing Union Organizing Won’t Fix the Economy
Most progressive policy makers view labor unions as the panacea that would address the problem of stagnate wages and disappearing middle class. A proposal to…
Detroit News
NLRB rule threatens worker right to privacy
The National Labor Relations Board, charged with conducting private-sector union elections, is now implementing an “ambush election” rule overhauling the union election process. The rule…
Blog
Employment Lawsuits for Thee, But Not for Me
The New York Times loves legislation that restricts employment-at-will, and it loves to increase penalties for employers who don’t hire and promote in…
Blog
California Court’s Indefensible Defense of Dysfunctional Education Policies
A California appeals court yesterday restored a series of education policies that harm students by making ineffective teachers extremely difficult to fire. The court…
Blog
NLRB Puts Stamp of Approval on Harassment in the Workplace
Around 80 years ago, Congress created the National Labor Relations Board to bring stability to labor relations in the private sector. The current iteration of…
Blog
Pay Gap Myths Spread Around Equal Pay Day
In the lead up to Equal Pay Day this month, supporters of more federal pay regulations promoted myths about the pay gap between men and…
CNS News
Coercive Union Power Can Still Be Abated Despite SCOTUS Decision in Friedrichs
Public sector workers in over 20 states must continue paying union dues, like it or not, after the Supreme Court deadlocked in Friedrichs v California…
Blog
Union Bosses Order Verizon Workers to Strike
Today, union bosses ordered 36,000 Verizon workers on the east coast to strike. Nearly all of these employees, 99 percent, service the Verizon…
WMAL
36,000 Verizon workers go on strike
WMAL discusses the Verizon workers strike with Trey Kovacs. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Trey Kovacs puts it, the unions aren’t looking at…
Blog
PBGC’s Perverse Incentives Undermine Multiemployer Pensions
For years, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures private sector defined benefit (DB) pension plans, has been severely underfunded below…
Watchdog.org
Public employee union spends $28 million on progressive politics
Watchdog.org discusses with Trey Kovacs the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees political spending of $28 million. Trey Kovacs, a policy analyst…
Blog
Federal Minimum Wage: The Case of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is in crisis and drowning in debt. Now it looks like the island’s Development Bank, set up to raise living standards in the…
Blog
Minimum Wages Tradeoffs: Are They Worth It?
Minimum wages help some workers, but only at other workers’ expense. Whether or not these tradeoffs are worth it is for each individual to decide.
Blog
California Minimum Wage Hike Could Cost State Taxpayers $10 Billion
California’s legislative analyst projects that the recent increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour will cost taxpayers $3.6 billion more a year in…
Foundation for Economic Education
Why Is the Middle Class So Angry?
The middle class is angry. Feeling left out of sharing in the nation’s prosperity the way they used to, they are increasingly turning to…
American Legislative Exchange Council
What Can be Done after Friedrichs?
Public sector workers in over 20 states must continue paying union dues, like it or not, after the Supreme Court deadlocked in Friedrichs v California…
Real Clear Policy
Minimum Wage: Is Job Loss Acceptable?
Finally, some minimum-wage advocates are acknowledging the policy's tradeoffs. New School economics professor David Howell recently asked the Washington Post, "Why shouldn't we in…
Blog
Wisconsin Judge Rules that Workers’ Wages are Unions’ Property
On Friday, April 8, a Wisconsin judge handed unions a surprising victory—surprising because of the argument behind his decision.
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Trey Kovacs: NLRB rule threatens worker privacy
Poll after poll indicates Americans value their privacy. Yet government is a top offender in this regard, with federal agencies infringing on private citizens’ information…
Inside Sources
NLRB Rule Threatens Worker Right to Privacy
Poll after poll indicates Americans value their privacy. Yet government is a top offender in this regard, with federal agencies infringing on private citizens’ information…
Blog
Air Traffic Control Reforms Will Give Us Modern Technology, Not Union Giveaways
Guest Post by David Grizzle Former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel, FAA As the former chief operating officer and chief counsel at the…
Blog
Illinois Pension Reform that Can Pass State Supreme Court Muster
When you’re in a hole, stop digging. That seems like such a simple concept that it shouldn’t need stating, but in the area of public…
The Guardian
Conservatives vow to ask supreme court to rehear deadlocked union case
The Guardian discusses the Supreme Court's deadlock on the Friedrich's case with Trey Kovacs. Trey Kovacs, a policy analyst with the Competitive Enterprise…
Reuters
U.S. top court hands win to unions, splits 4-4 without Scalia
Reuters speaks with Iain Murray about impact of Justice Scalia's passing on a labor union case. "The death of Justice Scalia has proved…
Fortune
How Scalia’s Death Handed Public Unions a Huge Supreme Court Victory
Fortune discusses with Iain Murray the impact of Justice Scalia's death on the outcome of a labor case. “The death of Justice Scalia…
Blog
State Legislatures Can Dampen Friedrichs Ruling’s Blow to Worker Freedom
Today, the Supreme Court announced a 4 to 4 spilt decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a decision that keeps alive the Abood…